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Ethan was handsome, and he had more money than God, but he hadn't been able to find the right woman to settle down with. "Ethan, that means a lot to me, but I can't."
His brow furrowed in disappointment, but he didn't look surprised. "Why not?"
I sat up and started getting dressed. "I don't do relationships. Not anymore. But I appreciate the offer."
"Did somebody hurt you?" he asked s
oftly.
"Once upon a time, they did." And no one else was getting an opportunity for a repeat performance. I shrugged and gave him a small, forced smile.
"That's a shame."
I nodded. "It is." It was a shame, but I couldn't go back and change the past. I just had to move forward, the only way I knew how, the only way I wouldn't get my heart broken.
Alone.
"This isn't your typical assignment, Blake." My boss, Elena, pursed her lips, which were expertly coated in her signature maroon lipstick. Elena was the madam and CEO of AccommoDating, Inc., the escort service where I'd worked for about a year.
"What's ever been a typical assignment? This is the escort business, after all." I raised an eyebrow at her. "You're going to need to be more specific. Way more specific."
She adjusted the collar of her sleek black blazer. "What if I told you he was offering you a million dollars?"
I opened my mouth then closed it, momentarily stunned. Holy guacamole. "I'd ask you what he wanted in exchange," I said, recovering. "'Cause it's gotta be something big."
"The client is Lucas Ford. Have you ever heard of him?"
Lucas Ford was one of Boston's elite CEOs, a technology billionaire. "Yes."
I kept up with business news, reading up on all the latest stocks and business reports. After I paid my expenses and took care of my mom, I heavily invested what remained of my income. I was saving for a future that did not include working as an escort, even though it had proved to be lucrative. "He's a technology mogul, right?"
Elena was pacing now. "Right."
"I read about him in the Globe recently. He's in his thirties. Gorgeous, too, if I'm remembering correctly." What I also remembered from the article was that Ford was a venture capitalist who routinely bought and dismantled other people's companies. He didn't do interviews, and he had a reputation for being ruthless. A former employee had said he had "no empathy" and ate up other companies in a "zombie-like fashion." After reading the article, I remember thinking that although he was hot, he sounded like a dick.
And now he was about to become my client. Great.
"He's very good-looking," Elena agreed. "He owns several technology start-ups. He's a billionaire from a long line of billionaires. His family, the Fords, is one of the country's wealthiest. They're old Boston-Brahmin money."
I twirled a lock of my blond hair, intrigued in spite of myself. "Okay… but what does any of this have to do with me? Why is Lucas Ford hiring an escort, and why is he spending so much money—aside from the fact that he can afford to?" He had to be into some seriously kinky shit if he was offering a million dollars. I shuddered.
Elena pulled down her thick-framed glasses to look at me. "He was referred here by his cousin, James Preston. Do you remember I told you one of our girls married her client?"
I nodded. "There was more than one though, right?" Elena often told us about her "success" stories, in which one of her working girls ended up marrying a rich client.
The madam shrugged. "It's happened over the years."
"So what about the cousin? This James?" I asked, nudging her back to the matter at hand. Cinderella stories were great and all, but I wanted to get back to the important part. About the million dollars. The million dollars would be much better than any fairytale—because then I would get to rescue myself, and my mom, and we wouldn't have to depend on anybody else ever again.
Because that never seemed to work out too well. For either of us.
"James recommended our service. Lucas doesn't need just an escort. He needs someone to…" She started pacing again, no longer looking at me.
"Elena." I was losing patience and my imagination was running wild. "What is it?"
She sighed. "Lucas has a trust. It's substantial. If he wants to inherit it, he has to be married by the time he turns thirty-five. And it has to last." She waved her hand. "I'm not completely clear about the details on the time frame. He mentioned something about a year."
I raised an eyebrow. "He needs a wife?"
